WWF Monday Night RAW – February 22nd, 1993

February 22, 1993

From the Manhattan Center in New York City, NY

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and Rob Bartlett

Rob Bartlett is up in the crowd. He jokes that he learned wrestling fans can spell after seeing signs for Hulk Hogan. That’s better than most humor we’ve heard from Bartlett.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Scott Taylor

Bigelow runs Taylor over then takes him down with a clothesline as he is getting a good amount of cheers. Taylor floats over but Bigelow catches him with an electric chair drop then Vince tells us that Hogan will join us live. Bigelow hits a backbreaker then heads up top for a flying headbutt and heads back up top and hits another flying headbutt for the win (3:01).

Thoughts: Bigelow was awesome here and the fans were behind him, despite Bigelow being the heel. Taylor, the future Scotty 2 Hotty, did a great job at taking Bigelow’s offense.

We now get a pre-recorded video between Vince and Hogan, with the latter sporting an ICOPRO t shirt. Vince asks Hogan if he will return to the ring and reminds him of their conversation from last year when the future of Hulkamania in doubt. Hogan says that his Hulkamaniacs have turned from friends to his heroes and says the future of Hulkamania is bright. Hogan then talks about making mistakes in his life but wants to let the Hulkamaniacs who have stuck by him that they are going to the next level before calling out the tabloids for digging up negatives and reporting false information at the expense of others. What a beautiful line. Hogan then goes through the rules of Hulkamania and for everyone to wait for his announcement on RAW. The gist of all this was Hogan telling us that Hulkamania is able to thrive into the future.

Beverly Brothers & Shawn Michaels vs. Nasty Boys & Tatanka

Everyone starts brawling before the bell and stays in the ring as Bartlett asks Vince if that is illegal. Shawn gets backdropped outside and lands on his shoulder then the match settles down. The Nasty Boys beat on Blake as the announcers plug the Shawn vs. Tatanka match at WrestleMania. Shawn tags in and drops Knobbs with an elbow smash then the Beverly Brothers double-team Knobbs behind the referee’s back. Knobbs uses a mat slam then hits Shawn with a pair of clotheslines. Tatanka tags in but Shawn immediately tags out as Beau enters the ring. Tatanka uses some chops then works the arm. Sags is now and gets two with a shoulderbreaker as the announcers talk about Hogan appearing later on in the show. We then get a weird spot with all six men facing off but Shawn & Blake go back on the apron as Tatanka goes back to working over Blake’s arm. We head to break with Knobbs beating on Blake but return with Knobbs getting tossed outside. Shawn is now the legal man as he rakes Knobbs’s eyes then lands a few stomps before distracting the ref so the Berverlys can use more illegal double-teaming. The crowd is chanting “Nasty” as the Beverly Blake tags and uses a bearhug. Shawn is back in but misses a corner charge and rams his shoulder into the post. Beau tags in and cuts off a tag attempt by Knobbs then Shawn tags back in and collides with Knobbs as both men are down. Tatanka tags in and runs wild on Shawn and hits the Samoan drop but Blake breaks that up with a leg drop. The match breaks down then Shawn tries for the teardrop suplex but Tatanka turns that into a sunset flip for the win (13:49) *1/2.

Thoughts: This match was basic and lifeless but the crowd was still into the Nasty Boys. Shawn ended up separating his shoulder in this match, I believe on the backdrop to the floor spot, and missed a few weeks of action and likely contributed to this match being a disappointment.

An ad for WrestleMania IX airs.

Sean Mooney is outside with fans who are waiting for a chance to get inside and see Hogan. The fans are all jacked to see him return.

Crush vs. “Terrific” Terry Taylor

Taylor shoves Crush and ends up getting pushed down on the mat. Taylor lands some strikes against the ropes then runs into a dropkick. Crush hits a press slam as the announcers hype up Hogan’s return. Taylor snaps Crush’s neck off of the top rope as Bartlett treats us to an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, even slamming the democrats as Vince laughs, as Taylor works a chinlock. Savage tells us that Hogan is not a Republican or Democrat with Vince adding that he is a Hulkamaniac as Crush escapes from the chinlock. Taylor uses a jawbreaker then a corkscrew neckbreaker that gets two as Crush powered out of the pin. Crush pumps himself up as Taylor lands a few punches then fights back and uses the head vice for the win (3:46) *.

Thoughts: Fine for what it was, which was to get Crush over, but most of the focus was on Hogan’s return.

Clip from last week when IRS hit Brutus Beefcake with his briefcase.

Vince is in the ring and welcomes out Hogan. He gets a decent response. Hogan talks about sitting at home last week and waiting for Beefcake’s comeback and saw him out-strut and out-wrestle Ted DiBiase but his smile turned to fear when IRS came out. Hogan even said the noise of the briefcase smashing against Beefcake’s face was so loud on his TV that he had to turn away and thought his face was crushed to a million pieces. However, Hogan said that Beefcake is okay now then thanks the “big man upstairs” and Jimmy Hart for helping Beefcake. Hogan then declares that he is back in the WWF then welcomes Beefcake to the ring. Beefcake is wearing Hogan’s colors and shades then takes them off to reveal a bandaged nose and bruised face. Beefcake also thanks the “big man upstairs” and Hart too then declares with the power of Hulkamania that he will face Money Inc. again. Hogan then talks about seizing Money Inc’s assets one at a time and will start off with their manager, Jimmy Hart, who is now red-and-yellow head to toe. Hogan then brings out their new manager as Hart comes out to Hogan’s theme. And Hart barely gets a reaction. Hart says he has always idolized Hart and many superstars in the back do as well. Hart then believes Hogan & Beefcake will be the greatest team of all-time as that gets some cheers at least then says he will take his vitamins every morning before yelling about Money Inc. needing to say their prayers. Hogan then calls his new team the “Mega Maniacs” and does not care if they face Money Inc. in singles or tag matches. This was quite the segment. Hogan got a decent reaction coming out but something about seeing him come through the Manhattan Center curtains in his red and yellow gear felt completely out of place. And the longer this went the worse it became and the fan interest kept decreasing. Hart tried but the sudden turn was too contrived for fans to get into and Beefcake has really been useless, even as the catalyst for Hogan’s return.

Another ad for WrestleMania IX airs.

The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer vs. Skinner

This match starts after the break. Vince says we are running out of time then we see a Slim Jim ad from Savage. Skinner chokes out Undertaker with his claw then the show ends with Vince plugging Jimmy Hart appearing on “Mania” and next week on RAW its Jimmy Hart against one of the Headshrinkers.

Thoughts: We were promised the rest of this match would be shown for next week but that never happened. It was a frantic segment with ads shown and Vince hyping up other shows.

Final Thoughts: The show revolved around Hogan’s return as he is now managed by Jimmy Hart and teaming with Beefcake as the Mega Maniacs. However, the Hulkamania stuff all felt dated and Hogan was not getting favorable reactions prior to leaving at WrestleMania VIII anyway so he really just comes off as someone who is not cool at all. Besides that the action was not that good with a boring six-man tag taking up a good amount of time.

Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Saturday: Mid-South Wrestling 4/5/84

Monday: WWF Superstars 2/27/93, WWF Wrestling Challenge 2/28/93

Tuesday: WWF Monday Night RAW 3/1/93, WWF Mania 3/6/93

Wednesday: WWF Superstars 3/6/93, WWF Wrestling Challenge 3/7/93

Thursday: WWF Monday Night RAW 3/8/93

Friday: WWF Superstars 3/13/93, WWF Wrestling Challenge 3/14/93